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AT LAST I HAD THE PLEASURE TO WATCH BLACKHAT 14/15 MARCH,TWICE, AND IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE ,2k and 4k,THAT’S A KIND OF GREAT CINEMA,AS SAID MY FRIEND ALESSANDRO BORRI “Adieu au (vieux) language, welcome to the future” ,THAT’S REFINED,SOPHISTICATED AND THAT’S NEED HIGH LEVELS OF ATTENTION NOT LIKE A NORMAL ACTION POP CORN MOVIE.THERE’S EVERYTHING OF MICHAEL MANN , A FILMIC POETRY,I CALL IT “FRACTAL CINEMA” MADE OF AUTHENTICITY , SUPERB DIRECTION , ACTING , CINEMATOGRAPHY , SOUND , USE OF MUSIC , MAKE UP, AS FOND OF HIS CINEMA I’M IN EMPATHY I REALLY LOVE HOW HE TELL US STORIES ,HOW YOU CAN WEIGHT WHAT YOU SEE, HOW HE HELP US TO HATE THE VILLAINS , AND I WILL SUPPORT HIM ALWAYS, AS I CAN.

“…Cinema through our portrayals allows people to experience emotions and events they might never come to know in their real life.We do have the responsibility to tell the truth”
Gred Gardiner ASC ON FILM Kodak American Cinematographer Vol 90 N°3

“we wound up shooting three night exterior sequences in Chicago with completely natural light in hi-def(Sony Sp900).I went with that system because of the shadow sensitivity and because of the way it looked.We were getting the equivalent[at gain of +6dB]of 2000 ASA.The camera is so sensitive to shadows that we were even seeing the clouds at night:We would never have gotten that on film,even if we pushed 500 ASA film by two stops.The image is a bit noisy and has a slight ghosting because we went with 360-degreee shutter,but we loved it.Sometimes you have to accept anomalies like noise in order to get a beautiful image.Hi-Def also has a different feel because the depth of field is so completely different.We could never have gotten that feel with film at all.There is more depth perception.Even though there is less image in focus,the apparent depth of field is greater.It’s so soft and real.We also used the Hi-Def Camera in the subway tunnels in Chicago,again shooting entirely with existing light.Yes ,the images are noisy,but I think that look is perfect for this movie.”
Emmanuel Lubezki ASC AMC RING LEADER American Cinematographer vol.82 N°11

“Film is not really good at low lights levels,but HD allows you to see nights as you actually see it by eye.Collateral is a prime example.Often people will walk by our monitors at night and say ,’ Wow! Because it show exactly what they’re seeing”
Roy H.Wagner ASC American Cinematographer Vol 90 N°3(The Unsuals)

“The Format’s strong point is its incredibile sensivity to light.We Were able to shoot L.A. at Night and actually see silhouettes of palm trees against the night sky,which was very exciting.”
Another advantage of HD you can fine-tune your color pack because you can see immediate results on the monitor.If there’s a shift in the color temperature you can instantly make the correction and match it completely
Dion Beebe ASC ACS American Cinematographer Vol85 N°8(Collateral)“In the years since HD cameras got into hands of working cinematographers,many have questioned which will ultimately win out,film or video.To see them work in concert together is to realize that they both have a place in the world of image acquisition.Film has its strengths and so does video.Finding a way to creatively integrate them will ultimately enable cinematographers to realize any shot imaginable.”
Rick Nagle Digital Imaging Technician American Cinematographer vol 89 N°5(Deception)

“…Anthony and I focus on emerging Technology[every Collaboration] feels like an adventure,It’s easy to quality control something people have been using for years,but you need a great cameraman to quality control the unknow”
Danny Boyle on 2K digital-cinema camera from Silicon Imaging American Cinematographer Vol. 89 N° 12

“..Mini Dv was out of question…working on location in India would not give him the level of control he’d had on 28 Days Later ,for which he was able to create elaborate lighting Setups…I also knew the incredible contrast there would destroy the chip of any conventional consumer digital camera…In addition to needing a digital camera with enough latitude to hold highlights he wanted something of very small…He found the right combination in the SI 2K Mini,whose imaging block,which houses its 2/3″ CMOS image Sensor and lens mount,can be separated from the rest of the camera”
Anthony Dod Mantle BSC,DFF Rags to Riches American Cinematographer Vol.89 N°12
Daytime shot of that sequence were captured with SI-2K Mini

“Cinematography is all about storytelling,and when you’re doing a genre film,you have to try to take it somewhere it hasn’t been before.It’s Easy to fall back on convention,but you should try to come up with a way to redifine the genre.”
Peter Deaming ASC, Drag me to hell, from article Supernatural Wrath by Iain Stasukevich AC Vol. 90N°6

“The Medium is romantic,intresting and beautiful,but it also looks real.And there’s so much you can do in post!Film has a certain kind of quality that cannot be matched by digital technology but at times,the advantages digital has over film are important for the language and the contents of the story you’re telling,and that determines your choice”
Dante Spinotti ASC , Editor Note, American Cinematographer Vol 90 N°7 page 8

When Director Gil Cates chose me to shoot a love story starring Bea Arthur and Richard Kelly,he said he liked what I’d done on The FLy.I reminded him that Jeff Goldbum and Geena Devis were in a horror film,not a love story.He Said”No they were in love,and that’s what the audience saw.Sometimes you have to ignore the words and let the pictures tell the story”
Mark Irwin ASC CSC Close Up American Cinematographer Vol 90 #7 page 76

FOR ME THE MOTHER OF ALL THE Q&A American Cinematographer Vol94 #8 page 34

Did Using Digital make a big difference in your lighting budget?

“We shot night exteriors at a T4 and it have doubled our lighting budget to duplicate the same scenario on film…”Bojan Bazelli ASC

Look around consumer’s media I can only say that We are in the Future,the word “High-Def” link to digital devices really breaks in our life, is changing our way to catch and read(learn) images,but In my poor opinion That’s not only a question of Tools or hardwares,the real differences are always been the MEN(their skills) and their choices…

MEANWHILE I HAD THE PERFECT EXPERIENCE

Last week end I been in Torino & I had the pleasure for the first time to watch a movie with DLP, watching

and really I had some boombastic experience

IDEAL Cityplex is allocated close Piazza Statuto and is the first theatre of this damned as beautiful city that adopt this outstanding technology ,we can watch 2D and 3D movies on 2K DLP Cinema Technology equipped by CHRISTIE CP2000 3 chip dlp cinema TechnologyCP2000 supported by DOREMI DCP 2000dcp.html server 2k and 4k resolution playback

The Main room ,movie theater Number #1 got DOLBY CP 650CP650 9 Channel for almost 50.000 watts,this device is a modular constructed processor that permit hardware evolution or upgrades , feature EQ Assist function for the best acoustic equalization all computer controlled.Never seen a Movie in a so powerful way so detailed on contrast and saturation matter…that was amazing!

Watching this film I was also impressed by a terrific daylight aerial shot ,one of greatest never seen before among the other ones seen on The Insider , ALI and Manhunter;I never had seen some clouds so real,so tangible ,asking myself how they been able to catch it knowing that any cgi effects weren’t involved either any tripods can’t be fixed over clouds.This was enough for push me to try write something about this Gem into modern “state of Art ” Cinematography.

Badly Written inspired by :

A converstion with Dion Beebe by Cameraguild.com

PARTNERS IN CRIME By Jay Holben American Cinematographer VOL 87 N°8

Forget glamour neon feelingof 80’s,pink flamingos and Girls on Bikini,Michael Mann rewrote greatly the genere, rationalized his way to tell us a story of 2 undercover cops vs. drug cartel,frippery free but without any loss of details,where High Def vision and subsequent look @ autenticiy help us to attest what we’re watching.During Hurricane Kathrina the problematic production(75% on Miami Locations) starts and runned for 105 days;Has happened with Collateral,Mann reteamed with the Academy Award Prize for Memoirs of Geisha Dion Beebe ACS,ASC spending months of pre-production testing digital devices,stratching the medium and trying things never used before.

Hi-Def been the first choice for the look of Miami Vice and Dion Beebe said“ WE WANTED TO SATISFY OURSELF THAT WE COULD ACHIEVE IN DIGITAL WAS NOT SOMETHING WE COULD SIMPLY PRODUCE ON 35 MM”.

Comparision’s test with HD been made using film stock KODAK VISION 2 50D 5201 and EXPRESSION 500T 5229 , both fit perfectly into HD look and been used shot by shot(With Arri235s/435s film camera)when was impossible use digital,expecially for underwater ‘s shots, high speed work and shots with T REX Superscope lenses extension system,a lens system for more deep’s shots,for step inside the character’s personal space,lenes that deamand a big amout of light but create a unique sense of begin present and claustrophobia.

Who’s writing is thinking that Collateral was a sort of training course for Miami Vice, HD catch amazing details on night sky, impossible at these days on film at 24 fps 180 degree shutter so that confirm to fit better in to low end sensitivity of the curve,dig in to the shadows,but have less latitude in the highlights than film.

Thats was a the greatest trick ,Dion Beebe encounter many exposure latitudes problems but found a deal at 1-2 stop working on HD cameras,3-4 stop working on Film;In to a particular scene(Biscayne Bay very small Location) Lighting actors to a T 22 means put lamps(18K HMIs) about 12’from them for keeping and hold the highlight outside,that’s was certain no a ideal deal,but had great results.

Using HD cameras also means deal with the High-Excessive Depth of field due 2/3” Chip’s Size, this time this feature was used pro the project. A daytime sequence in pre-production involved some standings agaist blue sky with beautiful cumuls clouds.When the footage been processed at company 3 by the Colorist Stefan Sonnefield apply the look set, the image popped off the screen almost s 3-d effect,it was the result of a combination ofincrease depth of field,exposure settings color timing and something in the nature of medium itself.

Working exclusively on A e B camera with Carl Zeiss 6-24mm Digizoom, picture’s look was set mainly with Thomson Grass Valley’s Viper, using whenever they could.Viper got ability to record a native 2.37:1 aspect ratio with standard spherical lenses without any loss of in image resolution ,and last but not the least Viper allowed the possibility to make adjustments in the camera ,adjustments on percentage of desaturation ,red or gamma, impossible with other camera as the great Panavision Genesis and its uncompressed mode to shot.

Despite the feature to grab image at 1.78:1 and use cropped process for achieve anamorphic aspect ratio the second choice fall over Sony Cinealta HDK-T950 and F900, due the lightweight compact size for fit into tight spaces.(t950 had possiblilty to separate camers’s imaging system for the bodyand processor by up 50 meters)

On digital ,for some situations available light seize controlled light ,by the way Digital permit to do things into a different way,”The trick is augmenting that light as seamlessly as possible. You have to be careful, because it’s very unforgiving. Just a bit too much light on a face relative to the background and it looks artificial” Said Beebe. Also this time mixing the tecnology and deal with the nature of light permitted to found the best way to telling us a story ,thats were the real challenge.Win.

Cover of the Italian R2 DVD Special edition with Blinking lamps and Ferrari Noise…As purist I Brought it hope into some special editon with more extras than the previous that I own, but nothing ,just “push here” on dvd-cover, you will see blinking 2 white leds on Ferrari Lamps and ear a powerful V8 engine noise…fucking cool but weird marketing choice…so I’m heading to blu ray soon I will tell you if Region 2 has some of never seen on the previous dvd version.